‘This needs to be illegal’
A group of YouTubers are facing criticism for giving an indigenous tribe vapes and snus as part of a video.
The NELK Boys, simply known as NELK, are an American-Canadian YouTube group made up of creators such as Kyle Forgeard, Aaron ‘Steiny’ Steinberg and Salim Sirur.
They recenty uploaded a video titled NELK Visits a Dangerous Uncontacted Tribe, which saw them travel to a Pacific island near Fiji to meet the tribe in question.
In the video, the YouTubers film themselves offering one of the tribesmen a vape. The clip was later shared on X, where it has been viewed more than seven million times.
Another clip shows them offering some of the tribesmen snus pouches. These are pouches of nicotine which people place under their top lip.
The content creators have been condemned for their actions, with one person commenting: “That was a trashy moves. Tribal communities are surprisingly healthy and some of them live very long lives. Bringing toxic products to them doesn’t help them.”
Another said: “This needs to be illegal. This isnt even the 1st time ive heard of something like this being done to a tribe but i’d like it to be the last…”
A third wrote that they were “polluting” the tribe’s “authenticity,” with someone else adding: “Bro, this is so sad.”
A fifth pointed out that the vapes will likely contain “all sorts of things introduced to these guys that their bodies won’t know how to deal with.”
The tribe had reportedly only had one Western visitor in the last three decades. At the end of the video, the YouTubers suggested the tribal chief and some of the tribe’s children should be brought to Disney World in the US.
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